MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released the bestsellers list for May for its horror/thriller imprint, HELLBENDER BOOKS. Brian Koscienski and Chris Pisano took the first and fifth spots with the two books in the Vengeful Prince Saga trilogy: The Devil’s Influence (book 2 – just released) and The Devil’s Grasp (book 1). Kyle Alexander Romine’s The Keeper of the Crowswas bumped to 2nd. Keith Rommel claimed the rest of the list with his supernatural thriller White River Monster in 3rd followed by recently-released crime thriller Southside Sinners in the 4th.

HELLBENDER BOOKS – Bestsellers for May 2018 (by Revenue)

Rank

Prior

Title

Author

Category

1

NEW

The Devil’s Influence

Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano

Dark Fantasy

2

1

The Keeper of the Crows

Kyle Alexander Romines

Supernatural Thriller

3

—

White River Monster

Keith Rommel

Supernatural Thriller

4

3

Southside Sinners

Keith Rommel

Crime Thriller

5

—

The Devil’s Grasp

Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano

Dark Fantasy

Koscienski & Pisano were supported by author events at conventions. Romine’s book was supported by author activities. Rommel was helped by recent movie releases and social media outreach.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released the bestsellers list for March for its horror/thriller imprint, HELLBENDER BOOKS. The Devil’s Grasp, the first in The Vengeful Prince Saga trilogy by authors Brian Koscienski and Chris Pisano ruled the nether regions. Keith Rommel claimed half of the list with his recently-released crimed thriller Southside Sinners in the second spot, psycho thrillers The Sinful Man third and The Cursed Man ninth, and supernatural thrillers The Devil Tree in 5th and The Devil Tree 2 in eighth. Veteran author Thomas Malafarina grabbed fourth with his novel Fallen Stones and the final position on the chart with Burner. Kyle Alexander Romine’s The Keeper of the Crowsslipped to 6th. Michael Hawley’s The Ripper’s Hellbroth returned to the rankings at #7.

HELLBENDER BOOKS – Bestsellers for March 2018 (by Revenue)

Rank

Prior

Title

Author

Category

1

—

The Devil’s Grasp

Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano

Dark Fantasy

2

NEW

Southside Sinners

Keith Rommel

Crime Thriller

3

—

The Sinful Man

Keith Rommel

Psycho-Thriller

4

—

Fallen Stones

Thomas Malafarina

Supernatural Thriller

5

—

The Devil Tree

Keith Rommel

Supernatural Thriller

6

3

The Keeper of the Crows

Kyle Alexander Romines

Supernatural Thriller

7

—

The Ripper’s Hellbroth

Michael Hawley

Supernatural Thriller

8

—

The Devil Tree 2

Keith Rommel

Supernatural Thriller

9

—

The Cursed Man

Keith Rommel

Psycho-Thriller

10

4

Burner

Thomas Malafarina

Supernatural Thriller

Koscienski and Pisano were boosted by convention sales and news of their upcoming second release in the series, The Devil’s Influence. Rommel was boosted by social media chatter about the release of his upcoming movie, The Lurking Man. Malafarina was helped by author activities and recent multiple releases. Romines and Hawley continue to be supported by fans.

About the Book:A thousand years ago, a mad wizard ensorcelled five gemstones, giving them the power to call forth and control the demons that haunt Hell itself. After a blood-filled battle with the mercenaries who helped him in his bid for this power, the wizard was defeated and the stones were spread across the continent, hidden from all but legend and bard’s tale. Now, the kingdom of Tsinel threatens the tenuous peace with Albathia. King Theomann, ruler of Albathia, sets his oldest son upon a quest with his Elite Troop of warriors to find the stones. As they soon discover they’re not the only ones searching for the stones. Unbeknownst to everyone, King Theomann’s youngest son, Daedalus, has designs for power, aligning himself with the blood-thirsty leader of The Horde, a band of vile fiends razing town after town in the kingdom.

A band of ne’er-do-well thieves. A pack of insidious trolls. A group of wizards with dubious intent. All searching for the stones for their own purpose, none prepared for the power that the stones possess.

The power to control Hell will be held by one hand. Whose will it be?

Excerpt:
Finding the mad wizard proved no challenge. He stood at the base of the precipice from where he began the battle, scraping at two oozing, crimson lines with the bottom of his staff. From the cliff where he started the war, over fifty feet above him, to the ground where he stood, two lines of blood, arcing away from each other, streaked down the mountain side. The two lines crossed at the top, but remained uncompleted at the bottom.

Watching the wizard’s frenzied scraping, the mercenaries deduced the staff held the power over the demons and must be broken. However, a wall of these very demons stood between them and Wyren.

Wyren howled commands.

Four of the mercenaries formed a square, swords and axes spiked the perimeter while the archer stood firm in the middle. Arrows spewed into the air, a fountain of steel-tipped wood, piercing the marrow beyond the meat of the winged demons. A hurricane of bloody, shredded skin and broken bodies, ranging from massive to minuscule, rained from the sky. The other four warriors pitched throwing knives, daggers, and any makeshift projectile they had at their disposal to ward of the advancing monsters.

Once the archer’s quiver emptied, the mercenaries relied upon hand-held weapons as they charged into the melee. Within the flurry of teeth and steel, claws and swords, they witnessed the completion of Wyren’s mammoth blood circle.

The ground quaked, throbbed as if hell itself was expanding beyond its limits. Like a stone plunging into a lake, the mountainside rippled, changing hue from slate gray to fecal brown to apocalyptic black. All conflict ceased, eyes upon the gaping hole, even the demons stood awed.

The blackness rippled again and parted, as fingers emerged, each longer than any man in the valley. Bile green and covered with coarse hairs, the rest of the hand, larger than most houses, appeared.

The mercenary leader possessed the instinct to take advantage of the situation and snapped his attention back to the battlefield. Lopping the heads off the few demons in front of him, he rushed forth and drove his shoulder into Wyren’s back, knocking the staff from his grasp.

Wyren shrieked.

The mercenary crawled toward the staff fighting off the mad wizard’s desperate attacks, biting and scratching worse than the demons. Upon grabbing the staff, the mercenary rolled on his back and folded his leg to his chest, snapping the staff in half against his knee.

Wyren screamed; his shrill voice echoing throughout the valley. The agony reflected both the destruction of his power and the revenge enacted against him as the hand from the mountain reached down and grabbed him. Wyren continued his scream as the hand retreated with the wizard in its grasp into the fading hole on the mountainside.

The five mercenaries turned to examine the battlefield. Any demon left alive had fled. Bodies of monsters and soldiers blanketed the valley, scarred and charred from the fires of war.

Nudging the staff with his foot, one of the mercenaries saw the cause of such mayhem. The staff’s crest, once a fist, now an open hand; the Devil’s grasp released five accursed gems: the Sun Stone, the Self Stone, the Spirit Stone, the Shadow Stone, and the Satan Stone. He tried to crush them beneath his boot, then split them with his sword, but to no avail. Not uttering a single word, each of the five mercenaries scooped up a gem. With nary a backwards glance, the mercenaries were no longer, now paladins as they walked in five opposite directions, making it their quest to vanquish the stones. …

About the Authors:
Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano skulk the realms of south, central Pennsylvania. Brian developed a love of writing from countless hours of reading comic books and losing himself in the worlds and adventures found within their colorful pages. In tenth grade, Chris was discouraged by his English teacher from reading H.P. Lovecraft, and being a naturally disobedient youth he has been a fan ever since. They have logged many hours writing novels, stories, articles, comic books, reviews, and on occasion a bawdy haiku. During their tenure as a writing duo, they even started their own micro-press publishing company, Fortress Publishing, Inc.